A Review of Twilight

First off, sorry for my absence over the past few weeks. I've been working hard on getting my GRE score up in order to get into film school. That and I've had other school and personal related things going on to keep me away. So I apologize. I should have more free time in the coming weeks (especially when Christmas break starts up).

Secondly, I bet you never expected to see a review for Twilight on here, did you?

Twilight has been one of those things that I've always enjoyed tearing apart here on YDKS Movies. The appeal for the series has always really alluded me and I didn't understand the crazy enthusiasm from these teenage girls for movies that had some of the worst trailers I've ever seen. Still, the fact remained that I had never seen the movie. With all the ripping I do on the series, it did kind of seem a little unfair that I haven't actually seen the movie I had been tearing apart. Also, with the movie looking as bad as it did, I found myself morbidly curious to just how awful it could be. According to my sister Avery, who was a fan of the books, the movie was beyond terrible. I knew I had to be in for a treat.

The night I got out for Thanksgiving break, I borrowed my sister's copy of the movie (which I don't understand why she owns it if she hates it...), snuggled up underneath my warm bed sheets and prepared myself for two hours of pure, MTV-style, teeny bopper garbage.

In a way, I got what I wanted. Twilight is a really bad movie. However, I have to say I was a little disappointed in my film viewing experience. The fact is, the movie wasn't absolutely unwatchable like I thought it would be.

Surprisingly, there are some things that Twilight has going for it. I felt that a lot of the first half of the movie with Bella getting adjusted to a new life in Washington worked for the most part. Sure, the situation has been done before but Catherine Hardwicke's handheld direction style really helped make it grounded and slightly interesting. Of course, this all goes downhill once the Cullens are introduced... but we'll get to that later...

Another thing that I felt worked well was the relationship between Bella and her father. For me, this was the most interesting part of the movie. I really like how actor Billy Burke portrayed Charlie. He made the scenes with him and Kristen Stewart a lot more interesting than they probably were on the page. The scene where Bella runs away and has to tear him down before doing so was particularly effective. I only wish I could care about the love story more than this father daughter subplot.

As far as the love story goes, I found the build to it interesting. The first encounter between Bella and Edward is really awkward and driven by a misunderstanding. In a sense, it feels like a lot of high school encounters that one can go through. That's when I felt that the relationship was working. It was when Hardwicke really latched onto the angsty and awkwardness that comes with puberty and going through a relationship, especially with someone who is very different. Unfortunately, once Edward finally admits that he's a vampire and he and Bella start follicking through the woods, things go really downhill. But I have to admit, I enjoyed the build to this at times.

While a lot of people really harped on Robert Pattinson's performance in the film, I think he did his best with the material he was given. Stephanie Meyer, from what I got from the screenplay based on her novel, isn't the best writer in town. Her dialogue is cliche and can be beyond awful at times. So, considering Pattinson had to deliver lines like "And so the lion fell in love with the lamb...," I felt he did the best he could with the situation. I did feel he brought some stand out moments to the screen as Edward at times. The fact that he just seems to freaking hate himself for being a vampire really made him kind of interesting to me. There were some nice moments of angst he had, especially in the car ride after saving Bella from some potential rapists. Unfortunately, Meyer's bad writing and terrible special effects really keep him from shining too much.

And now for the bad. First off, this movie has some of the worst special effects I have ever seen. Considering the book series is such a massive best seller, you would think that they would have a bigger budget for the film series. The effects look hokey beyond belief. Every time I would start to get into the film, a terrible effects sequence would start up and I would be out again. I really cannot stress how bad the effects are. They really are up to par with those exhibited in a SyFy Channel original movie. Yes, it's that bad. Unfortunately, director Hardwicke does not really seem to know how to film action sequences very well either. This only makes the bad effects stand out more and makes them more laughable.

The romance between Edward and Bella was really off and on for me. While the build was solid for the most part, the moment they become a couple in the woods I tuned out. The reason behind this is because it really just starts to feel like a written relationship. Everything that happens between Edward and Bella doesn't feel natural. It almost feels like what Hardwicke believes what would happen in a relationship between teenagers. Once I got to the scene where Edward and Bella just lay on the ground, staring longingly into each others' eyes for like five minutes, I couldn't stand it. 

Still, the relationship has its moments. The kiss between them in Bella's bedroom was really effective and their moment after the fight with James was pretty engaging as well. 

One of the biggest problems I had with the relationship is the fact that I didn't like Bella very much. Many people give Kristen Stewart flack for this but, to be honest, I think I have to go back to Meyer's writing. Bella as a character just isn't interesting. There's really nothing going on with her. She's the new girl. That's it. That's all that she has going on. In the end, she's just too damn boring and flaky to really care about. Because of this, it was harder for me to get into the relationship between her and Edward.

Hardwicke's portrayal of vampires in Twilight is mostly laughable. The scene where the Cullens are introduced in the cafeteria had me rolling my eyes. The fact that they look so pale and ridiculous really took me out the movie a lot of the time. How could no one know that there's something wrong with them? No one looks that pale and dresses so damn weird in real life. With all the realism that had been established so far, their introduction just felt cheesy. The way the evil vampires are portrayed is even worse. They are always shot in slow motion from a low angle when they enter a scene. They all dress in a beyond ridiculous fashion. They just sit out like a sore thumb. It's just silly.

Still, out of all of these complaints, nothing measures up to the infamous vampire baseball scene. Yes, that's right: vampires play baseball in this movie. I'm not sure why but Hardwicke devotes a whole five minutes to it. It's cut awkwardly to a Muse song, has shots randomly cutting between fast and slow motion and shows off the movie's terrible special effects more than it should. This scene is just so out of nowhere and terrible. It's just beyond silly. I still don't understand it.

In the end, Twilight wasn't the worst movie I've seen. It has some decent moments here and there. I felt that Pattinson made the character of Edward more interesting than he was on paper but that the text and terrible effects really held him back. I also felt that the subplot between Bella and her dad was pretty effective. Unfortunately, Meyer's terrible writing, beyond awful special effects and off-and-on direction from Hardwicke really stop the movie from ever becoming good or remotely original. Twilight ends up being your typical teenage movie with a vampire covering thrown in to make it appear like it's unique in some way. However, it's terribly cliche, often too silly to ever invest in and terribly mediocre. I honestly can't remember one scene that really made me ever want to see the movie again and that's not a good thing. It's not unwatchable but it's truly forgettable at the same time.

3/10